December 17, 1949 Tsunami: Southern Chile
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake began at Southern Chile on December 17, 1949 at 06:53:30 UTC. It killed 1 person, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
Where the waves reached
The source of the tsunami. No runup with a place is recorded for it.
- Under 1 m
- 1 to 3 m
- 3 to 10 m
- 10 to 30 m
- 30 m and more
- Height not recorded
The tsunami
- Date
- December 17, 1949, 06:53:30 UTC
- Source
- Southern Chile
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.8, 33 km deep
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 54.000° S, 71.000° W
The toll
- Deaths
- 1 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
1949, December 17, 06:53 UTC. 54 S, 71 W, magnitude 7.7 MS, depth 33 km. (reference #552)
1949, December 17, 15:08 UTC. 54 S, 71 W, magnitude 7.7 MS, depth 33 km. (reference #552)
1949, December 17, 06:53 UTC. 54 S, 71 W, depth 33 km, magnitude 7.75 MS. (reference #164)
1949, December 17, 15:08 UTC. 54 S, 71 W, depth 33 km, magnitude 7.75 MS. (reference #164)
More
Every tsunami in 1949The 1900sTsunamis of ChileThe earthquakeThis day in weather historyAlerts in force
Sources
Tsunami events and runups from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI tsunami event 5202.